State patrol: South Kitsap suspect took first shot at cops

Suspect has not been charged with a crime

SOUTH KITSAP - Investigators reported Friday that the man shot by deputies New Year’s Eve day outside Port Orchard took the first shot, then was hit multiple times in the upper torso by fire from Kitsap County deputies, according to a statement from the Washington State Patrol.

The State Patrol also identified the suspect as James C. Mathes, 44. He was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and had been listed in serious condition. The suspect has not been charged with a crime, and his name does not appear on the jail’s roster. Troopers are handling the investigation.

Two deputies shot the man. They were identified by the Sheriff’s Office as deputies Kurtis Lont, who has 16 years with the office, and Ben Herrin, with 13 years experience.

The two deputies have been involved in shootings before. Lont, Herrin and another deputy killed an armed man near Lake Flora in July 2002. The man, John E. Buckendorf, had led deputies on a chase. He exited the car he was driving, pointed a pistol at the deputies and refused an order to drop the weapon, according to a report by Prosecutor Russ Hauge, who said the shooting was justified.

In May 2006, Herrin and another deputy shot and killed a Navy Yard City man, Shane Williams, 26, who approached the deputies wielding a machete and refused orders to drop the weapon. Hauge ruled the shooting justified, but the county settled with Williams’ father and daughter for $217,500.

In the Dec. 31 incident, deputies were called to a residence near the 8400 block of Bethel Burley Road SE at about 1 p.m. after receiving a call of a potential violation of a protection order between Mathes and a 42-year-old woman.

They were also told Mathes had a history of violence toward the woman and was possibly armed.

As deputies approached, the suspect emerged from the residence and was armed with a revolver, the statement said.

The deputies told the man to drop the gun, but the suspect shot at the deputies, the statement said. The deputies returned fire. Neither the deputies nor the woman were injured.